# some sample data.
my %msgdata = ( messageid => $next_messageid,
                  quoteid => $quoteid,
                  body => $q_body,
                  viewed => 0,
                  timestamp_m => "CURRENT TIMESTAMP" );
        
        # you can do a sort here if you care about the order 
	# of the keys.
my @keys = keys %msgdata;

        # uncomment this if you want to exclude all pairs 
	# that have no value.
#@keys = map {defined($msgdata{$_})? $_ : ()} @keys;
        
        # get all my values in the same order as my keys.
my @values = @msgdata{@keys};

        # replace any undefined values with "NULL".
        # Comment this out if you're excluding these above.
        # Note: if you're using $dbh to quote your values 
	#       then use $dbh->quote($_) for the true option
@values = map {defined($_)? $_ : "NULL"} @values;
        
        # my sql statement.
my $sql = "INSERT INTO msg ( " . join (",\n", @keys) . ") " .
          "VALUES " . join (",\n", @values);

        # or with DBI: (but not so good for printing)
	# you don't need to use the $dbh->quote above if 
	# you use this.
my $sql2 = $dbh->do(
                "INSERT INTO msg ( " . join (",\n", @keys) . ") " .
                "VALUES " . substr(("?,\n" x @values), 0, -2),
                undef,
                @values);

##</code><code>##

	insert($table, @keys, @values);
		# or possibly
	insert($table, $data_ref);

		# and definately
	$data_ref = select($table, $conditions_ref, $desired);